Community schools is an umbrella term describing schools that provide various services to address the comprehensive needs of students, families, and communities, through collaboration with community agencies and local government (Jenkins & Duffey, 2016; Oakes et al., 2017).
With the passage of Act 67 – The Community Schools Act in June 2021, the Vermont Agency of Education developed a competitive grant opportunity for eligible applicants to develop and pilot Community School models. This grant program supports Vermont schools and community partners to develop, expand, and sustain a community school model that demonstrates five pillars: integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities, active family and community engagement, collaborative leadership and practices, and safe, inclusive, and equitable learning environments.
Dr. Bernice Garnett, in partnership with the the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) initiated an innovative research-practice-partnership (RPP) to advance and support the implementation and evaluation of Vermont community schools, supported through Vermont Act 67.
RPPs are defined as “a long-term collaboration aimed at educational improvement or equitable transformation through engagement with research. These partnerships are intentionally organized to connect diverse forms of expertise and shift power relations in the research endeavor to ensure that all partners have a say in the joint work” (Farrell, 2021).
The Vermont Community Schools Research-Practice Partnership (VT CS RPP) is a collaborative, long-term relationship between researchers, practitioners, and representatives from the VT AOE and UVM’s College of Education and Social Services with a commitment to participatory applied research to advance and support the implementation and effectiveness of Community Schools in Vermont.